I Can Put A Tennis Raquet Up Against My Face And Prentend That I'm Kendo Nagasaki

It's a line from my favourite song on the Half Man Half Biscuit album "McIntyre, Treadmore and Davitt" which was the name of three retired footballers called on to save a Football team in the "Golden Gordon" episode of Michael Palin's "Ripping Yarns". The song is "Everything's AOR" and will of course accompany this post.

It's my dad's 84th birthday and the older someone gets it's more difficult to get birthday presents, especially when his main hobby is working, although he has a penchant for post boxes and boxing. I decided to get him a copy of "There Is No Map In Hell" by Steve Birkinshaw which I bought just for the title and found to be an excellent book seeing what some people can force themselves to do against seemingly impossible conditions.

The weather has been incredibly cold and during January absolutely not conducive to walking although I have managed to keep up my target steps so I am still exceeding my million steps every three months and I will start February in Whitby so I am not sure taht will be a good or a bad thing. Whitby is great for walking but if the weather is not good that may discourage me from actually doing my required steps.

Kendo Nagasaki was a wrestler in the sixties and maybe still is but I remember watching wrestling on a Saturday afternon at my grandmas with Kendo, Mick McManus , Jackie Pallo and others too numerous to mention. It was all staged of course as it still is in the numerous wrestling francises going on today. The link to the Kendo Nagasaki (there are/were many) portrays him as a mystic an dhypnotist as well as a wrestler, so not a one trick pony. The tennis raquet gives a similar effect to the samurai mask worn by Kendo in the ring.

So that's my Monday so far ..... now what's yours?

I Won't Watch Black and White Films, Films With Subtitles or Read Books

Obviously not me, but over the years I continually hear this from people, and variations on the same. Anything out of the blinkered area that they see means you (that's me) are a total weirdo. You don't like "Top Gear"? You're weird. You like classical music? You must be retarded. You don't watch X-Factor or Britain's Got Talent? You have no taste in music. You watch Asian language film? You're strange. You listen to German and French bands who sing in German and French? You are mad.

I've had all these reactions from people, and maybe it's why people seldom speak with me, but that's their loss. The fact they are cutting out of their life the films:

• Downfall
• Amelie
• The Seven Samurai
• Casablanca
• It's A Wonderful Life
• Young Frankenstein

....and more

and then the music of:

• Beethoven
• Mozart
• Philip Glass
• Can
• Amon Duul II
• Jacques Brel
• Alan Stivell
• Gong

..... and more

And the fact that people refuse to read for the flimsiest of reasons, missing out on the joy of hooking up your own imagination as someone's words take you on a journey that no film could ever do, I list the music I listen to and the books I read on here. I have finished "There Is No Map In Hell" which I bought just for the title and I discovered what it is like to run 214 Wainwright Peaks in seven days. which you can read about on Steve Birkinshaw's blog here, You might not be able to judge a book by the cover but it was the title that hooked me and though I have zero interest in Fell Running it did hook me.

So I should include a song that is not sung in English, so I'll go with Los Lobos take on Richie Valens' "La Bamba" from the soundtrack of the eponymous film

Future Islands

Just a quick one about blog targets for 2019. Last year I posted over 300 times (with the aim of beating my previous highest year of 2017 with 264 posts. This year I want to take the blog over 2,000 posts since day one which means just over 200 required this year, that still requires around two posts every three days so i am going to have to find something to talk about. Given that I seldom see anyone these days it does give me an option to say things that people may or may not listen to, but it's always pleasant when someone mentions something that I have written about.

I'm  still reading "There Is No Map In Hell" and it reminds me of "Fermat's Last Theorem" in that it's almost a gripping adventure , with the will he / won't he on almost every page, getting more and more tense as you near the end of the book.

I've also been adding more CDs to my Discogs store here due to the fact that I play vinyl more than I play CDs and listen to most of my music via various digital platforms such as my phone and Kindle Fire and Home Network.

I have bought a hell of a lot of CDs without really getting to know them, but also some have only required a single listen and it's pointless having them boxed up doing nothing.

Anyway, this is post 1799 so I will share Motorhead's take on David Bowie's "Heroes", and it is more than up to scratch. I've seen King Crimson's take which is great as well, and while I am sure there will be versions that don't cut the mustard, this certainly does.

Friday is almost upon us.

There Is No Map In Hell

The title is the name of the book by Steve Birkinshaw that I bought from 3 Peaks Cycles in Settle just because of the title. I didn't look at the back cover or find out what it was about I just bought it. It's about the guys attempt to run ALL Wainwright's 214 Fells in seven days, this was like running two marathons and ascending / descending 35,000 feet each day. Oh, and just to make it really easy he went public to raise money for Multiple Sclerosis. I have a couple of friends who suffer from this horrible debilitating condition so that raised Steve in my estimation, he really does care for others.

This whole thing is not a subject that normally interests me and had you said do you fancy a book about a guy running the 214 Wainwright's in seven days I would have taken a pss. The book is large format and around two hundred pages but I am half way through at the moment enjoying the mentons of places and areas I know and finding out on how he powers through the challenges he faces

This book is a prime example of just diving in and trying something that is completely new for you. I could have easily hit a brick wall and discarded it but the narrative of fell running, nutrition , friends and family values and challenges with the added bonus of familiar locations (Steve works for Newcastle University as well) are making this a joy to read. I will resume my re reading program after this, but this is an enjoyable read from a most impressive man.

So something appropriate to accompany this, there's obviously "The Race" by Yello, but I'm going to go for "Man In The Hills" by Burning Spear because the only thing it has in common with STeve is the title and it is a brilliant record. I know it's Monday , but enjoy it, I 'm off  to the doctors and then to deal with something that will be unpleasantly annoying at work.

New Year, New Book

I've finished "swords of Corum" by Michael Moorcock and now taking a break from Science Fantasy (though there is little Science and a lot of Fantasy and it suffers like "Elementary" of finishing off incidents too quickly ("I Killed All The Gods")) , and now I am starting "There Are No Maps In Hell" by  Steve Birkinshaw about his record breaking run of the 214 Wainwright Fells.

This is a book I bought just because of the title when I saw it in the 3 Peaks Cycle Shop in Settle (which also sells book and breakfasts and the people are really helpful. I'm hoping to get back there soon and try their breakfasts. They say never judge a book by the cover, so should you jusdge one by it's title? Well the title sold it to me and the cover is fairly good although completely different to my recent reading.

After this I will be back on Moorcock's Corum books in the "The Prince With The Silver Hand" which is heavily based on Irish Mythology, so looking forward to that as well.

This morning 6Music (John Hillcock) played "Bang The Drum All Day" and it sort of sums the feeling of coming back to work after the New Year for me. It is Friday though, so have a great day.